I have to agree. When it comes to innovation and setting the pace of the industry, few companies if any can compete with Apple.
People may call the computers "fisher price", but if it wasn't for the iMac all the computers today would still be the same standard beige box. Now at least they are more compact and are black or silver. Whether thats an improvement depends on your tastes of course.
Then of course there's iMovie which completely changed people's views on multimedia and forced Microsoft to create Movie Maker. Now home digital video creation is commonplace to consumers.
This isn't even mentioning the iPod and iTunes which evolutionized the music industry.
In any case, the Apple-Intel relationship is nearly a perfect relationship. Apple gets the stable supply of processors they need, which are looking more and more decent with Yonah, Merom, and Conroe. At the same time, Intel gets a receptive ear for their plans to steer the industry. Intel has been trying for years to introduce small form factor PCs like the Mac Mini, and introduce home entertainment centres. These strategies coincide perfectly with Apple's visions. I'm sure the new Intel Apples will all be based on BTX which has been slow to pick up in the PC industry but certainly offers many benefits.